By Austin Arnold, BGSU Icon intern

Oscar Velasquez is in the process of painting his second mural for the community of Bluffton - this one on the side of Forever in Stitches on Main Street.

This mural will be a period scene from the 1940s and will feature local people who worked on the railroad along with local townspeople and businesses that have helped make up Bluffton's history.

Oscar said he has been kicking around the idea for this mural for about six years and was excited when Forever in Stitches agreed to have him paint it on their outside wall.

"The old mural has been there for over 15 years and it seems like it's time to do another one," Oscar said.

The new mural is expected to be 42 feet long by 16 feet high and Oscar estimates it will take him two to three months to complete. Painting large murals presents a challenge not only in its physical size, but on a creative level as well, according to Oscar.

"Painting a mural is very time consuming and it takes a lot of detail to make the whole thing work. It also takes a lot to make an original sketch and then scale the scene to the wall and creatively paint the scene so everyone, with or without an artistic sense, can appreciate it."

Another important step in painting a mural is priming and preparing the wall for paint, then picking out exactly where the mural will be placed once you get a wall picked out, which is actually most important, Oscar said. For this mural, Oscar is excited about the location of where it is being painted.

"This is a real good spot. It's right on Main Street and there is a lot of activity around this building year round, so many will see it," Oscar said.

A similarity this mural will have with the previous one, done in Bluffton, is that community members will be able to model themselves, family, friends, business or even vehicles in the mural, if one so desires.

The price of each varies, however, people are priced at $250, vehicles at $350, store fronts $500, and sponsorships range from $350-$1000, depending on where it goes in the mural.

A few businesses and people have already been requested and all of the sponsorship on the locomotive itself has been taken, but there is still room for everything listed above. Persons interested in being a part of the mural they should contact Oscar at 419 348-7337 and be prepared to send him a picture of what is to be painted.

Oscar has painted numerous murals in the communities of northwest Ohio. He has a mural in Pandora, Leipsic, Miller City, Ottawa, two in Columbus Grove, two in Delphos, two in Van Wert, two in Findlay and 10 in Toledo. He even has a couple of murals in South Carolina and Nebraska and one in Serbia, which he painted in 1994. Oscar estimates he has done over 40 murals overall.

When he is preparing to work on a mural, Oscar said he always tries to talk with the historians and people of the town to find the communities' roots.

"I try to think of the town's history and what makes up their existence and incorporate that into the scene I paint."

Along with his murals, Oscar has a lot of other work that is on display for the public. He is the author of "Sketch of the South," and has paintings featured in several other books and publications. Oscar was also hired, in the early '90s, to create watercolors and drawings depicting the scenes and sets for the movie "Sleeping with the Enemy."

"I've been drawing since I was seven years old and I have been self-employed for over 40. I've acquired a lot of experience in the different facets of art."

Oscar graduated from the Cooper School of Art, in Cleveland, in 1963. From college he worked for American Greetings for about eight years then decided to free-lance his work. Once he started his free-lance career, he moved to South Carolina, where he lived for 16 years, then came back to Northwest Ohio in 1991. Oscar is originally from Pharr Texas, but moved to the Pandora area when he was seven.